The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Boating club gathering held at Bass Lake Preserve
A handful of boating enthusiasts gathered at Bass Lake Preserve for one of its traditional “messabouts.”
A handful of boating and boat-building enthusiasts gathered at Bass Lake Preserve in Munson Township Sept. 1 for one of its traditional “messabouts.”
As Cleveland Amateur Boatbuilding and Boating Society (CABBS) President Ed Neal explained, the term messabout is inspired by a quote from The Wind in the Willows — a children’s book by Kenneth Grahame in which the character Water Rat affirms: “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
“And that’s pretty much what this is all about,” Neal, who is a Westlake resident, said when describing the group’s purpose Sept. 1 at the Geauga Park District property. “It’s to get together, get out on the water, paddle around and just be together out here.”
He called 106-acre Bass Lake “a perfect spot” for such a gathering.
“This is the first time I’ve been out here,” he said. “It’s the first time the group’s been out here and we’ll definitely add it to the rotation. This is a perfect spot for the small boat community. It’s quiet. And it’s a beautiful place.”
Group secretary Jim Jackson, who lives in Mentor and manages CABBS monthly newsletter, said some of its other, similar gatherings take place at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve in Erie County, the Lorain County Metroparks’ French Creek Reservation and the Black River in Sheffield, among other locations.
Jackson said he was inspired to see the group gather at Bass Lake after he stopped there during a winter-time drive through Geauga County.
“I thought it looked like a great place for a gathering,” he said Sept. 1 as he and about a half-dozen other CABBS members who made the scene that day had lunch under the pavilion at the 606-acre preserve located at 11445 Lakeview Road.
Although membership in the 51-year-old club isn’t what it used to be and current members would like to see its numbers grow, the die-hard contingent of boating enthusiasts who made the trip to Munson Township Sept. 1 said the seasonal. Monthly outings are a great way to see and paddle, sail or motor on different waterways while pursuing their favorite pastime.
“It’s just a good way to get together,” said Chester Township resident Jim Batteiger, who’s got an ideal boat-building space on his property in the form of a long out building in which multiple members, including himself, have built their own DIY watercraft.
Take, for example, 82-year-old Lyndhurst resident Joe Lose, who joined
the group in 2016 and built a 14-foot 7-inch wooden Fox boat in the workshop. He brought it to Bass Lake Sept. 1 for his first time out on the water there.
The group’s newest member, David Antolovich from Solon, said he joined about three months ago and has found it to be an enriching experience.
“My daughter headed off to college, so I’m now an empty nester and wanted something interesting to do,” he said, adding that, until now, the extent of his boating experience consisted of he and his wife renting powerboats occasionally. “This was my first time paddling and I think it was pretty great.”
He called it a “very clean, fun, family activity” and sung the praises of the CABBS group as a whole.
“First of all, it’s a very friendly and welcoming group,” he said. And these are people with a lot of experience and knowledge about the boat-building craft and they’re going to help guide you.”
Antolovich said he’s about to embark on a boat build of his own, the anticipated outcome of which will be a multi-hulled sailing vessel called a Proa.
Among the CABBS member-built boats at Bass Lake Sept. 1 was the SixHour Canoe members of the crew finished back in January,just in time for it to be displayed at the 2018 Progressive Mid-America Boat Show in Cleveland.
An affordable way to break into the boat-building hobby, the Six-Hour Canoe is a good first build for people interested in getting into boat building, Neal said.
It was originally designed and built by Boat Design Quarterly publisher Mike O’Brien.
According to an ablebooks.com synopsis on the 1994 book about the boat,
Building the Six-Hour Canoe, O’Brien’s design is a simple, economic way for aspiring boat builders to get into the hobby.
“The canoe is constructed from a single 4’x16’ (or two 4’ x 8’ sheets) sheet of marine plywood and a few pieces of dimensional lumber and, with epoxy glued seams, is watertight from the moment it hits the water,” the synopsis reads. “When completed, the canoe is 15’3” in length with a
31½” beam. Inexpensive to build using ordinary tools and materials, the canoe gives everybody access to boatbuilding and a boat.”
It can be built for around $400, the CABBS crew confirmed.
Following the last boat show, CABBS held a handson class for folks who wanted to learn how to build a Six-Hour Canoe of their own.
The five-week class, dubbed Boatbuilding Basics
Workshop: Build the Six-Hour Canoe, began March 3 and produced two such vessels It was held at Soulcraft Woodshop near the Interstate 90-East 55 Street interchange in Cleveland.
Members of CABBS said they’re considering hosting another class, the product of which could be the ever-popular wood-strip canoe. But it’s tough to host classes without a permanent base of operations, which CABBS lacks.
Batteiger, Jackson and Neal all agreed CABBS’ membership might grow with the addition of a more permanent base of operations, inti which the group is currently looking.
For more information about CABBS, becoming a member, participating in a messabout, monthly meeting or any of the other activities the group holds, visit its website at http:// cabbs.org
According to the CABBS last newsletter, some upcoming events include:
• September 22 - Black River Paddle. We’ll put-in at the French Creek launch facility and follow the river through a woodland and urban landscape. The blue heron rookery along the way is something to write home about. 10 AM Colorado Ave. and Lake Breeze Rd., Sheffield, OH 44054
• October 21 - CiderFest. It’s back again this year! We’ll provide the cider press, apples, brats and sausages. You provide a side dish, a container for cider, and the kids or grandkids. See all the details in the October Newsletter! 1:00 PM Gully Brook Park, 2100 River Rd., Willoughby Hills, OH 44094
• November 11 - Membership Meeting. The indoor season will kick-off with guest speaker, Jim White, the designer of FLOTSAM and JETSAM, two purpose-built boats that have done a wonderful job helping to keep the downtown Cleveland waterfront clean and free of debris. 1:30 PM Strongsville Branch of Cuyahoga County Library, 18700 Westwood Dr., Strongsville, OH